Johnny Dole & The Scabs

Short and Sweet! – This probably best describes the life of Johnny Dole & The Scabs.

Johnny Dole & The Scabs were one of the first Punk Rock bands in Australia, they played live and recorded in Sydney during 1977 – 1979.

THE BEGINNING

In early January 1977, The Strays were looking for a new drummer to complete their line up and after deciding on the right one, it was time to rehearse and honour a gig commitment four weeks later. During this initial rehearsal period the style of the music was changing and one of the original members decided to leave. This meant that the line up was now a 4 piece and this style was taking the shape of Punk Rock, which was new to the Sydney music scene; their songs were being played faster and grungier.
Embracing the new style was easy for the band as they had all felt it was the right direction, so with this new direction a new name was needed and after careful consideration Johnny Dole & The Scabs were born.

THE FIRST REAL GIG

After more rehearsal where some original songs were now being crafted to suit the new direction, it was time to look for work. Johnny and Peter approached George Kringus, manager of Radio Birdman who booked the bands at the legendary Oxford Funhouse in Taylor Square – Darlinghurst. The bands first gig was on Friday 15th April 1977. The band was well received and they played there 3 more times before the Funhouse closed its doors.

Other regular gigs at the Paris Theatre and supports to both Cold Chisel and The Saints were some of the highlights.

RAY WALSH

During this early stage Johnny Dole’s brother was recruited as manager. Ray Walsh was an ex wrestler who had many contacts in the media and he put these to good use, beginning with interviews and articles in all the local Sydney newspapers including The Sun, The Daily Mirror and The Daily Telegraph as well as music magazines like Ram and Juke.

THE GRAND HOTEL

Because the Oxford Funhouse had closed and there was no other venues at the time that would put on Punk Rock bands Johnny, Peter and Ray went in search of a venue that would. About to give up because of so many knock backs, they tried one last hotel in Broadway before going home and they found the publican Dennis was open to their suggestions. After agreeing to the request of not changing the décor and only putting posters on the walls, the back room of The Grand Hotel opened its doors to Punk Rock for the first time on Friday 16th September 1977.

The Grand Hotel was considered to be ‘the’ Punk Rock venue in Sydney with many notable bands playing there including Rocks, Tommy & The Dipsticks, The Leftovers, Filth, Psycho Surgeons, Blackrunner, Shock Treatment and Mental As Anything to name just some. Punk Rock being what it is, unpredictable at best, The Grand Hotel closed its doors late 1979 but has taken its rightful place in Punk Rock History. Unfortunately The Grand Hotel was bulldozed in the name of future development and is no longer standing, although the lane way where the bands loaded in still is!

RECORDING

As the band were writing more and more original songs, it was decided to record them so Ray approached Sydney radio station 2JJ to see if they were interested. Because Punk Rock was only new and 2JJ were an independent radio station, recording a band like Johnny Dole & The Scabs was quickly considered and Keith Walker was asked to be producer. The band recorded in the ABC Studio 201 where all the live to air concerts were televised. The band recorded all the tracks live then over dubbing the lead guitar and vocals. Eight songs were recorded and all overdubs and vocals were done on the same day, with Keith Walker mixing it soon after. Interviews on 2JJ were arranged so these recordings could be played on air and the songs at the time were well received and had good rotation.

POSSIBLE RECORDING CONTRACT

Ray took the recordings to a number of record companies and arranged a gig for the record company executives to see the band live. This gig, which was at the Journey’s End Wine Bar Woolloomooloo on Saturday 17th December 1977, was a great success with a number of offers being made to the band but unfortunately no contracts were signed. A three year publishing deal with Penjane Music Publishing was signed but without a recording contract the recordings were never released and it wasn’t until many years later that the recordings surfaced, thanks to both Bruce Griffiths (ABERRANT RECORDS) and Steven Danno (Brain Salad Surgery).

FILM CLIP

The band was approached by a student from NSW Uni, with the proposal of doing a video clip to one of the band’s songs, Aggro. As part of her studies, Peita Letchford had been given a grant from the Australian Film, Television and Radio School (AFTRS), so a time was arranged to film the band at a demolition site at Woolloomooloo. This film clip had never been seen or aired on television and has only recently been located in the archives of the AFTRS and can now be viewed on You Tube. Unfortunately Peita Letchford died of cancer in the late 90’s.

A CURRENT AFFAIR

Next on Ray’s hit list was an interview on Channel 9’s A Current Affair program and true to form, the interview was arranged. Mike Carlton and his crew came to The Grand Hotel and filmed the band performing live. After the gig later that night, the band members were interviewed. Unfortunately Channel 9 has indicated that this interview would no longer be available having been destroyed many years ago.

THE END

The A Current Affair interview was aired January 1978 and not long after this Greg Morris was asked to leave the band in late February 1978. Soon after Greg’s departure, Dave Berry also left and Johnny Dole and Peter Mullany continued with new members but never regained its popularity and soon folded. They then joined forces with Tommy & The Dipsticks to form the band The Crooked Hearts.

WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

Unfortunately Johnny Dole passed away from a drug overdose in 1987.

After The Crooked Hearts disbanded Perry Mullany joined The Broken Toys who then became Sekret Sekret. Becoming disillusioned by the music business he moved to the country.

Dave Berry moved backed to the mountains from where he came and was last known to be playing in blues band Blue Roots.

After Johnny Dole & The Scabs Greg Morris joined Rocks and soon after recorded the sought after six track EP You’r So Boring. After Rocks disbanded, Greg was in many bands including The Prisoners, The Fringe, The Undecided?, That’s Right!, Peabody Deluxe.

Hello Greg,
My Name is Johnny .And i’m Johnny Dole’s son just wondering if u know the where abouts of my uncle Phillip Walsh is. I live In Sydney i have turned 30 this year and i have not seen the family since i was about 10yrs old . I’m trying to find anything of my Fathers things ,the last time i seen his records and photos was at Raymonds house in Riverwood when i was 10.It would be great if u could HELP me please. thank u hope to hear from u soon johnny.